Monday, 31 March 2014

Last week Chile celebrated the International Gastronomic and Food Industry (Encuentro Internacional de la Industria Gastronómica y Alimentaria (EIIGA 2014)). One of the parties that decided to participate with a stand and everything (including food!) was the Chilean Intellectual Property National Institute (INAPI).

As expected, the event is visited by the most important representatives of the culinary and food industry at national and international level . INAPI’s aim was to support the ‘Origin Stamp’(Sello de Origen) by providing information and also offering tastings of domestic products. INAPI explains that the ‘Origin Mark’ recognizes and rewards the efforts of traditional producers. It attends to “encourage entrepreneurship and productive development in local communities” through providing recognition to their products by obtaining Geographical Indications ( GIs) , Designations of Origin ( DO) , Collective Marks and Certification Marks.

Finally, Mr Maximiliano Santa Cruz , INAPI’s National Director , says that with the ‘Origin Stamp’ there is hope “to foster, preserve, protect and improve the positioning of the work of artisans, fishermen, farmers and producers".

In the same line, early this month INAPI granted a Collective Mark to the Association of watermelons from Paine – the collective mark being ‘Corazón de Paine’ (Paine’s heart). It is said that this process started in January 2013. However, the aim is to obtain a Geographical Indication (GI) for which they applied for in June. By the collective mark it is “expected to contribute to the preservation of agricultural biodiversity and tourism development of the municipality”.

INAPI’s president informs that up to today there are only four Collective Marks registered in Chile. In this occasion the watermelons from Paine are said to be highly sweet and to have nutritional quality. The region of Paine is located in the metropolitan area, in the province of Maipo, and is mainly characterized by its agrarian culture.

Wednesday, 19 March 2014

This week, the Brazilian Instituto Nacional da Propiedad Industrial (INPI) presented a certificate of Designation of Origin (DO) to the producers of coffee in the region of the Cerrado Mineiro. The event took place at a national fair called ‘Feira Nacional de Irrigação em Cafeicultura’ and was attended by farmers, exhibitors and officials.

Sergio Francisco de Assis, President of the Federation that represents, manages and promotes the Cerrado Mineiro region, received the certificate and acknowledged that the “certificate summarizes years of work” and recognises the said Regions and its people.

On the other hand, Lúcia Regina, who is the General Coordinator of Geographical Indication at INPI, congratulated farmers for the achievement and at the same time encouraged them to seek protection in other markets and products.

The region of the Cerrado Mineiro is the leading producer of coffee in Brazil. According to Decree of the Government of Minas Gerais the region comprises an area of 147 hectares and approx. 3500 producers. The region has uniform climate pattern allowing the production of high quality coffees.

A soft reminder to my family...

Back in 2005, the coffee from the Cerrado Mineiro was granted an Indication of Source. Currently, the product is giving the highest GI certificate and thus, recognizing (not just labelling) the “qualities and characteristics of the product, the result of geographical environment, including natural and human factors.”

While this news was reported a few months ago (here), it was this week that the event took place. As noted at the time, this is the third national product that receives a DO (there are: ‘Litoral Norte Gaúcho’ for rice (granted in 2010); and, 'Vale dos Vinhedos’ for wines (granted in 2012)).

Tuesday, 18 March 2014

According to a note by Barbara Dollstadt (Berkemeyer Attorneys & Counselors, Asunción) in the current INTA Bulletin (vol.69, no.6), Paraguay has a new National Authority of Intellectual Property (DINAPI). DINAPI has been established by Decree No. 460/2013, which regulates Law No. 4798 of December 31, 2012. According to Law No. 4798, DINAPI is an autonomous institution, based in Asunción. Its National Director is vested with both general and special judicial and administrative powers, as well as the power to appoint and remove officers of DINAPI. The National Director thus takes responsibility for the administration of Paraguay’s system for issuing and protecting copyrights and related rights, trade marks, industrial designs and models, patents, utility models and geographical indications, as well as the promotion of technology transfer. Importantly

The Enforcement Directorate (Direccion General de Observancia, or DGO) will be responsible mainly for the promotion and protection of all forms of intellectual property rights. It must develop preventive and investigative actions to suppress the effects of crime, piracy and counterfeiting—at customs checkpoints, in business premises and in other locations—and initiate proceedings regarding alleged intellectual property infringements. These actions may be taken ex officio by the DGO or on application to the DGO by rights holders or their representatives.

Monday, 3 March 2014

The IPtango has received a review copy of Simon Stokes’ Digital Copyright Law and Practice. Simon Stokes is a solicitor and a partner with Blake Lapthorn and he is a visiting research fellow at Bournemouth Law School, UK.

The fourth edition is published by Hart Publishing in 2014 and is up-to-date to June 2013.
The edition covers issues such as the Google Library Project (i.e. scanning material into this searchable database); collaborative and jointly authorship (e.g. Wikipedia); digital images; linking; Open Access; e-books; and apps; among other. Good to see in the book was a Chapter dedicated to Moral Rights. The author asserts that this is new in UK law and yet he manages to bring the principles into the digital environment in a very clear way.

The book is mainly establishing the UK position but sometimes goes further as to look at the US experience. Yet, the book is a fine read for the Latin America audiences since it brings and gives a clear understanding of the policies surrounding this modern issue i.e. digital content.

Here is what the Hart Publishing editorial has to say:

The first edition of this book in 2002 was the first UK text to examine digital copyright together with related areas such as performers' rights, moral rights, database rights and competition law as a subject in its own right. Updated editions have included the UK implementation of the 2001 Information Society Directive and commentary on user-generated content and the development of Web 2.0 and beyond. Now in its fourth edition, the book has been updated and revised to take account of legal and policy developments in copyright law and related areas, in particular the increasing role of the Court of Justice of the European Union in shaping EU copyright law.

The book helps put digital copyright law and policy into perspective and provides practical guidance for those creating or exploiting digital content or technology, whether in academia, the software, information, publishing and creative industries, and other areas of the economy. The focus is on the specifics of the law in this area together with practical aspects, including precedents and precedent checklists dealing with common digital copyright transactions. The latest edition has been expanded to include a discussion of Open Access, eBooks and app development and licensing. Both academics and practitioners will find the book an invaluable guide to this rapidly developing field of law.

________________________________________
For more information here.
To order a hardcopy here (EU) and here (US).
Electronic publication available from March through the Hart Publishing website.